New THOR Image as Marvel Counts Down to Comic-Con

Yet another Thor image has hit the web in advance of the film’s highly-anticipated panel on Saturday at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. The image shows off Thor (Chris Hemsworth) pulling his trusty hammer Mjolner out from a pile of stone. Oh, and he’s dripping wet and covered in grime while he’s doing it. Just because you’re trying to save the world, doesn’t mean you can’t look sexy while doing it. In fact, it’s encouraged.

Of course, the high-anticipation comes with an even greater risk of letting the fans down. Hit the jump for what director Kenneth Branagh and Hemsworth are saying in advance of Comic-Con. The previously released images are here, here, and here. Thor is set to open on May 6, 2011.

Before I get to the quotes, I wanted to debunk one of the claims made in USA Today‘s article:

Films such as Avatar, District 9 and Alice in Wonderland flew from last year’s convention with a vapor trail of geek blessings, and all became hits. Those films that evoked shrugs —9, Drag Me to Hell— met grimmer fates.

Avatar received a lukewarm reception at Comic-Con. That’s a fact. Additionally, people in Hall H went nuts for Kick-Ass, but that movie didn’t light up the box office. Comic-Con can swing momentum, but it is by no means a final indicator. With that in mind, I want to advise Mr. Branagh not to be so scared:

“I think [the Marvel people] were warning me. They said to brace myself, that I’d never seen anything like it.”

Same goes for Mr. Hemsworth:

“It’s a bit scary, the power and devotion they have. A couple of months ago I was feeling secure and went online to see what people were saying. Some people loved we were doing a movie; some people already hated it. I’ll never read comments again.”

That’s a wise move. I’m the same way. I just have my brother tell me which comments on my articles are the best/hilarious.

But honestly, the worst a film can do is receive a middling response. Thor isn’t going to get booed off the stage. If anything, Thor‘s biggest threat is Captain America: The First Avenger since they’re in the same presentation. Every fan in Hall H is going to be comparing the two since they’ll see them side-by-side. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige can try to compare this year to when they showed off Iron Man, but Iron Man didn’t have to share the stage with another major potential franchise.